Archive for December 15th, 2012

(CNS): A woman was recovering in hospital Saturday after a road smash this morning near Lantern Point Condos on Shamrock Road, George Town. Police said that at around 7:15am officers attended the single vehicle crash in which a female driver heading west towards George Town had lost control of her car as she reached the roundabout. The vehicle flipped on the side and an ambulance transported the woman, who was the only person in the vehicle at the time, to the Cayman Islands Hospital. Her injuries are not life threatening and an investigation into the cause of the accident is on-going, police said.

Anyone who may have witnessed this accident or have information relative to it is asked to call George Town Police Station at 9494222.

Meanwhile, the RCIPS also said that two people were arrested over Friday night and Saturday morning for driving under the influence of alcohol and 15 other people were prosecuted for various traffic offences.

A police spokesperson said those who decide to ignore the many warnings being issued by the RCIPS relative to traffic violations must prepare themselves for theconsequences of being prosecuted and taken before the court.

(CNS): There were no members of the UDP parliamentary group to greet the premier on Friday night when around 100 friends and family members turned up at Owen Roberts International Airport on his return from Jamaica. Cayman 27 reports that Bush told the small crowd that he has no intention of stepping down and the allegations against him are politically motivated. In his first public appearance in Cayman following his arrest Tuesday morning at his home in West Bay, the premier made it clear he was not going voluntarily. Meanwhile, it is understood that a number of the UDP government and backbenchers have asked Bush to resign.

Bush was returning home after flying out very early Thursday morning to Jamaica, where he gave the commencement address on integrity at the University College of the Caribbean on Thursday night. He was scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from the college but the UCC had postponed that award. Bush told the group at the airport that it was decided he will receive the doctorate here in Cayman, the local news channel reported.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands premier returned home from Jamaica late Friday night insisting that he would remain in office regardless of his arrest this week. McKeeva Bush, who is now on police bail until February, once again accused the governor of being “vindictive and petty” as he insisted his arrest and the police investigations were a political witch hunt as a result of his standing up to the UK. Despite his determination not to step down, Bush may be forced out of office as speculation mounted Friday that cracks were appearing in the caucus loyalty. It is understood that some of the UDP parliamentary group are preparing to ask him to resign from both the party leadership and Cabinet.

Since the revelations last year that the premier was the subject of three police probes, his party colleagues had thrown their support behind their leader. However, the rest of the UDP’s elected officials have remained silent since the short statement from the deputy premier’s office Tuesday morning, a few hours after Bush's arrest at his home in West Bay. The UDP members of the Legislative Assembly said they recognised the gravity of the situation and they were in discussions and that a statement would be released in due course.

That due course has stretched across four days, and after another closed door meeting all day Friday the party has still not made any public comment about the situation the party now finds itself in.

There are a number of scenarios that could now unfold but it will be a matter for the eight UDP parliamentarians to make decisions on who will replace Bush as premier and who will take up his ministry if he returns to the back bench. However, if the party is not in agreement in its opposition to Bush remaining in office or in supporting him in the top job, the UDP benches will split, leaving government in disarray.

If the UDP cannot maintain a majority then it could seek to form a coalition with the independent or opposition members, which is an unlikely outcome. The most likely scenario if the eight members of the UDP cannot stay united either in support of or against Bush will be the dissolution of parliament by the governor and early elections.

The opposition leader filed his no confidence motion with the speaker of the LA, Mary Lawrence, Friday, along with a letter requesting that she call an emergency meeting of the House in order to force the UDP to take a position one way or the other.

(CNS): The opposition leader has written to the speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Mary Lawrence, asking her to summon an urgent meeting of the country’s parliament next week to debate a no confidence motion on McKeeva Bush’s government following his arrest by the police on suspicion of theft and offences under the anti-corruption law. Alden McLaughlin said that the arrest of the premier was hugely damaging to Cayman. However, with Bush denying he has done anything wrong and insisting he will remain in office, the opposition leader pressed the speaker to convene the LA to allow the UDP members who have been silent so far to demonstrate either their support or their lack of confidence.

The speaker has the power, should she choose to use it, under Standing Orders to convene a meeting and allow the debate, which could conclude with a secret ballot, to take place in the Legislative Assembly, which this time could lead to the downfall of government.

While Deputy Premier Juliana O'Connor-Connolly issued a short statement Tuesday, saying the government understood the gravity of the situation, the opposition leader pointed out in his letter to Lawrence that none of the UDP government members have made any public statements over the last four days to say whether they continue to have confidence in Bush as the premier or not.

“The current state of affairs presents a matter of the gravest national importance and hence my request to you to exercise the discretion given you as Presiding Officer,” he wrote.

Although Bush was still in office Saturday morning, it is understood that the UDP were still hoping that the premier would voluntarily step aside. But with the eight other members of the UDP government said to be split, with at least two members standing by the premier, those not in support of his remaining in office will not be able to form a government as they will not command a majority. If they then choose to vote in favour of the lack of confidence, the UDP could be forced to go to the polls early with a divided leadership team.